Decisions to be Made

At this time of the year, it rains, and it rains, and it rains. We have days of constant rain - sometimes that horrible fine drizzle, but often continuous downpours, and of course, we live in the country. This means that the roads are frequented by tractors (well, maybe a couple a day !), who drive in and out of muddy fields, and leave their mud on the roads. There doesn't seem to be the same necessity to clean the roads here, as in the UK, which Craig often comments upon, but this means that our car gets dirtier than ever before. We sometimes have to jet wash it, AND then put it through the car wash. We don't yet have the facilities to be able to wash it outside the house, and even if we did, the cost of the water would incline us towards the jet wash anyway.

Another issue resulting from the rain, is that the water flows down our road, and often pools, or seeps into the buildings we have opposite the house. Craig wages a constant war against this, and we have had several conversations with the 'Maire' (Mayor). The local 'council' have tried various solutions, but they are never sufficient, and we have even resorted to providing a drawing to them indicating what should be done. They did make the suggestion that they could alter the camber of the road, so that the water flowed into our house instead !!!

While the rain continues, the work inside goes on, thankfully. Craig was very busy - he tiled the downstairs cloakroom, and then started on the utility room. We had a friend who plastered the ceiling which set us well on the way. A big problem was, though, the fact that the room had been used as a dumping ground for all those things that you don't know what else to do with or where else to put them. It's always the same with an empty space isn't it ? It soon gets filled up !

Anyway, first off the walls needed to be studded....

...before work can start on the electrics. As you can see in the picture, we (that's the Royal 'we') have to work around the freezers, which doesn't help !

At this time, we needed to make a decision relating to finances. We needed some to be blunt !! We had tried to find employment, but the unemployment rate here is very high, and we would be at the bottom of the pecking order, being a different nationality, with limited French. The next option would be to return to the UK to work - Craig would earn more than me, but then the renovations would stop, so the decision was made that I would return to work in the UK. It's not how we saw things developing, but hey ho, needs must eh ?

Next decision - what could I do that would enable me to work, and come home when I wanted to, on a regular basis ?

OK, decision made, and we made a trip back to the UK, so that I could make the necessary arrangements, and plan ahead. This enable us to see the children and grandchildren, which is always a good thing ! The babies grow and develop, and we watch them and speak to them via Skype, but it's always nicer to give them a real cuddle !

It's also a good time to stock up on those things that are either not available or too expensive in France - who thought you could miss Jammie Dodgers, or Dr Pepper so much ? When it's there, and available, you don't crave it so much !!!

House locked up and safe, and Arthur the dog off on his holidays, to our neighbours about a kilometre away, to be spoilt with plenty of walks and attention.

See you soon France - we'll be back in a week.

Another New Year - Our 4th in France.

January 2014 started as December had ended - very wet and windy. In fact I can remember that we lost the roof to the sheep housing at one point, and it was no fun trying to get it repaired in the rain. I can also remember having several coats each, drying over chairs in the kitchen !

I think this was the final straw with the sheep, and we decided that they were more trouble than they were worth to us. They had escaped, they needed to be put in their housing each night, let out again in the mornings, cleaned out etc, so we decided to sell them. This happened quite quickly, and a lovely couple arrived with a trailer to take them away - that wasn't easy. We kept them in their house, and then 'lassooed' each in turn and led them away. None of them was inclined to be led quietly though, and we ended the day, very dirty, very wet, but pleasantly relieved !

We had tried, but decided that it wasn't for us ! Some good memories too though !

If you remember though, we had borrowed a ram from a friend, so we still had to return him - he wasn't too happy on his own. Picture this ............ Craig sitting in the back of the van, holding on to the ram for dear life, while I drove........an experience that I wouldn't want to repeat, but one that I wouldn't have wanted to miss either !!!!

Craig's birthday was on a Sunday, so after a quiet day, speaking to the children, with various renditions of Happy Birthday being sung, we had a small party in the evening. It was very pleasant - conversation, a few drinks, nibbles and laughter. The last guests left after 1 am - a very late night for us !

As always, jobs get started, others get finished, and some jobs create other jobs - it's an endless circle really, but a door hung in place means that a few more draughts are averted, a laminate floor laid outside the wardrobes, gives me a dressing area, and curtains hung, gives us more privacy and warmth. The fuse box was boxed in, so looking tidier too. The wall in the 'Snug' was plaster boarded, so it was the last time we would see the old plaster etc.

The walls were sanded and painted making it much cleaner and brighter. It is strange to think that we used to sleep in there, when we were first here !

We had to buy a new television as ours decided to give up. We rely on it quite a lot for contact with the UK. We often listen to the radio through it, so it was a bit of a blow when it failed. However, we managed to buy another one relatively quickly to replace it, although the choice and availability is not as good as in the UK.

We had an anxious call from a friend whose husband had been rushed to hospital. She was in England, so asked us to go to Carhaix to see if we could find out what was happening, and how he was. He had been very lucky, as his condition had been critical, but the care he received was excellent. He had his own room, television etc, and stayed there for about a week. We had heard conflicting reports about this particular hospital, but from what we saw there, it was reassuringly good.

We have an electricity 'pole' next to the house, almost completely obscured by trees, and one day an official called and asked if they could prune the trees around it, to prevent any damage during storms etc. Our first thought was 'How Much ? ' BUT it was free. Great news, as then a job that we knew needed doing, would be done by someone else at no cost to us. It was just a question of when they would come. We have been promised things like this before, and nothing has happened. We'll wait and see.

We also finally had a visit from the Insurance Assessor about the damage to our roof, three months previously. Unbeknown to us though, the meeting was arranged with us, the people who's fault it was, and their representative. We were not ready for this, and the kitchen was full of tools and plasterboard, so not an ideal scenario to have a meeting. Anyway, maybe things are finally moving for the work to be completed. The problem is that the roof is asbestos, so Craig is concerned about the safety aspect of the work, whereas nobody else seems to be worried. You can even take asbestos to the tip here !